With the revitalized interest in black powder shooting and hunting, there arose a need to improve the common and original patch and ball bullet loading and firing of percussion or flintlock rifles and muskets. The patched round ball bullets are the slowest to reload and are the least accurate. Further, the fouling of the black powder necessitates frequent swabbing and cleaning of the bore of the rifle. An attempt to alleviate the shortcomings of the round ball bullets resulted in the development of the minie and maxi balls. These cylindrical-body conical-headed bullets made it possible to obtain a heavier load for any given caliber which usually improved the accuracy. But, the fouling by the black powder propellent remained an annoying problem, which required the shooter to frequently swab and clean the bore of the rifle. Further, it is not uncommon for minie and maxi bullets to become jammed in the bores of the muzzle loaders. For example, during the excitement of competitive shooting, or after missing a deer on a first shot, it is not unusual to get the next bullet stuck in the bore, due to the fouling or the like. In one instance, the ramrod was broken in an attempt to free a jammed maxi ball from the bore of a flintlock rifle.